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Sky Chart and Artist Rendering of Aquila
Origin:
Aquila is among the oldest constellations, dating back to the time of the
Mesopotamians and ancient Greeks. It has for at least 3500 years
been associated with a bird on one kind or another - an eagle, raven,
vulture, hawk, or falcon - variously by the Babylonians, Arabs, Persians,
Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans. A Chinese sky map from 500 BC
identified the star pattern as an ox. Aquila is one of the 48
constellations described by Ptolemy in the Almagest (A.D. 140).
Information:
Aquila is a prominent constellation in the southern Summer and Fall sky
(for northern observers) easily found north of the "teapot" of
Sagittarius and culminates at 9 pm on September 15. There are many
fine deep-sky targets in Aquila for binocular and telescopic
observers. Altair, the brightest star in Aquila, is among the
closest stars to the Sun at 16.8 light years, is a hot Sirius-type star
(stellar class A7), and is rapidly rotating (6.5 hours as compared to 25
days for the Sun). Altair is one of the three stars that makes up
the "Summer Triangle". The other two are Deneb (Cygnus) and Vega (Lyra).
Mythology:
Aquila was associated with Zeus, god over all gods, who conscripted the
eagle to carry lightning arrows to wherever they were needed. In
Roman mythology, Aquila was sent by Jupiter to bring the mortal Ganymede,
a young shepherd boy, to heaven where he would ultimately become the
cup-bearer for the gods. |
